Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.

Der Medicus - Schlosstheater Fulda, season 2016 round up

Time flies at the moment. Really nearly two months ago that I saw "Der Medicus" for the first time? Since the run finishes in just over a week, am just to see it one last time this week, time for a round up since glad to have seen various castings I really want to mention.

I still have my issues with the show as outlined >>HERE but I decided to accept the show as it is. I do not get the most positive visitor reviews I read on pages as Eventim nor the press ones but I know that I am not your typical German musical visitor looking for a bit more than what I am given in most shows (one reason maybe why I love Sondheim while most other people in this country do not get his style).

Der Medicus ensemble - curtain call

I am not easily impressed by great choreos and stage sets when the story is nothing else but mediocre with its weak book and the average music, but again, I do not get this tacky cheesy music style, so popular in Germany (one reason maybe why, while nearly everywhere else Wildhorn shows are disastrous flops while they are decently popular over here underlining the bad taste we are so known for).

For me good story telling is a lot more important than a big fancy set - one reason why I love seeing fringe and small size theatre productions these days them usually leaving so much space for my own imagination and a lot more focus on the actual performances.

Saying this with the right casting 'Der Medicus' can certainly entertain and enchant these days.



The biggest praise needs to go to the ensemble and the swings. With sickness in the cast and people leaving early in last weeks people seemed to have worked their a**es off to make the show happen with me witnessing swings covering not just one track but even two (and I wouldn't be surprised if even partly three). 

It is also the little moments in the show that add to the entertainment. 

May it be my beloved Thomas Christ as the publican who realises what it means if his guests of the last months leave making the most out of that small part cracking me up all the time, whether David Rodriguez-Yanez and Chadi Yakoub making their scene as Hassan and Abdul meeting Rob in Isfahan still so funny after all the weeks feeling fresh, whether Farid Halim who especially when in ensemble as dancer seems to be partly made out of rubber, whether Lucia Haas Munoz, Sharon Rupa or John Baldoz who constantly seem to beam with so much joy and delight and I just need to look at them being made to smile, whether the kids, especially the Robs being lovely and full of high spirits, whether everyone else seeming to give it all not making it look like a simple job as seen too often these days. 

I have been lucky to see Janko Danailow a few more times as Rob Cole even if not as often as had hoped due to sickness in the cast as mentioned above. Fortunately these shows were taken over by Sascha Kurth who is in his own way a wonderful Rob. Missing the fire to be a proper hotspur as Rob is called he adds enough temper and other emotions in the right moments and additionally sings not just beautifully but with the right pathos. The only thing he needs to work on is his juggling. ;-) 

No one though beats Janko Danailow's Rob for me. Period.

I seriously cannot get enough of him in that part. There is so much passion, vigour and detail in his play that I cannot help but be impressed and return (even if someone seems to have an issue with me coming back again and again...). It is really the little things that make his performance most special for me. Yes, the other two Rob Cole can certainly sing the parts but Janko just seems to sense and connect with the emotions to be delivered and finds a way to release them in his play to be simply true and veracious.

Update 22nd Augst 2016: Especially in his last show as Rob Cole last Saturday Janko's Rob felt so fierce and fervid that it occasionally was slightly intimidating and formidable at the same time and made me realise again how exhausting this part must be (and looking at the curtain call pictures you can literally see the weariness in his face).

Not being fan of Sabrina Weckerlin as Mary for in first post mentioned reasons I managed to catch one of the Dorothea Maria Müller's rare performances as Mary (and that in combination with Janko as Rob) on a Sunday night. 

I had to pay for that the next day having to go to the office but it was worth every tired moment (thanks employer for free coffee and energy drinks...).

Dorothea's Mary is so multifarious and well sketched and played - bubbly and cheery (these facial impressions and the cute faces she pulls are to die for...) when she and Rob meet, full of hope for a better life after her mother died and confident enough to take what she wants when falling for Rob, full of anger and sadness when later meeting Rob in Isfahan again after all she went through in the meantime.

I am still not a fan of the song itself "Kilmarnock" but when sung with so much despondency and heartsickness besides sung simply stunningl it gave even me goosebumps. 

The highlight with her was certainly the scene when she is meets Rob again and given as a present to him by Karim.
The light shivering, the irritated looks from the corner of her eyes at Rob, the vague sobbing, her obviously trying so hard to not burst with anger, when Karim and the others are still around, her then when them gone exploding with so much despair to realise then a moment later she's been given a second chance being full of tenderness and sweetness was so incredible to watch and then that song Mary and Rob perform together in that scene never sounded more affectionate and caressing.

Update 22nd Augst 2016:
On my last visit on Saturday I also had the pleasure to catch Devi-Ananda Dahm als Mary delivering a spotless performance. While her play may have not been as intense as Dorothea's her play was more juvenile, more naïve, the whole being captured  and sold as a slave came across more as a terrifying shock moment for her and less fury.

Saying that "Kilmarnock" was sung with such a longing and nostalgia that it made me melt.

With Devi-Ananda playing Mary, I also FINALLY got to see Lucia Haas Munoz as Fara.

How I adored that sultry and spirited play of hers? That duet with Devi-Ananda was for once so full of bounce and lark that the number itself did not bother me. She also sings with such a striking ardour that I cannot help but be even more enchanted by her than I was already.

I was also lucky to see Leon van Leeuwenberg one weekend as the barber surgeon/Quandrasseh and while he may not be as terrifying as Sebastian Lohse as latter he is certainly awe inspiring as Quandrasseh and sparkling as the barber surgeon. 

Too bad I never saw Thomas Christ as Ibn Sina though saying Reinhard Brüssmann is most probably the perfect casting giving the portrayal so much dignity and grandeur. Even after these shows his performance is still moving and venerable being nothing short of jaw dropping.

Overall it was certainly a fun summer spent in Fulda. Not sure about some reactions but my life, my decisions, my money...

With the show returning to Fulda next summer, I will see whether to go again - it all depends very much on the casting as the show alone does not convince me enough.

All curtain call pictures by me.